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KALON
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Chapter Fifty-Three: Adan Shal Hada
Galactic Quadrant: Darna Quadrant
Ruling Government: Talum Merchant Federation
Solar System: D-447
Planet: Ora
Location: Planet's surface
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***
Realm of Dreams
***
Gales of wind collide against me, and torrents of water smash me from every direction. Light mixes with shadow. The dream world tremors as cracks begin to form in the periphery of the stars. The words of the malice-filled voice slam into my mind.
Adan Shal Hada
Thoughts swirl as I am thrown under the waters. The dead claw at me desperately. Hundreds of them. My eyes widen as I see Barnak, my old Clan chief amongst them. His eyes are lit with crimson, twisted by the murk that spreads rapidly. I have not seen him in my dream world before, why does he come to me now of all times? The crimson of his eyes is battling against the blue as he claws the dead from me. Pushing me towards an island made of black stone, tossing me upon it.
I try to grab his arm, but my grip on him is not enough, the dead punish him, pulling him deep into their depths. Leaving me to hold to the rock against the waves that try to take me with him. I have never felt so much pressure in the dream world before, like a mountain is crushing my very soul. Red lightning arcs above me, and the thunderous boom sends fissures into the cracks of the dream world. Despair spreads further in the skies as a being swathed in darkness descends from the clouds. Its voice ruptures my ears with the malice it holds, cracking the stone beneath my feet.
Do you seek power
This is the voice I heard from the box. Its words vibrate the very essence of the dream world, my heart thrashes as its eyes glow brighter like twin suns dipped in crimson. It lands on the ground next to me, waving a hand against the waves, forming a sphere of air around us, blocking the waters. Its shadowy hand extends outwards toward me. Grabbing me by the face.
The moment it touches my skin, my body becomes ablaze in pain. Shadow webs from its touch, spindling down my face, towards my heart rapidly. When it reaches my heart, the darkness increases in its ferocity, becoming the epicenter. Images of death flash in my mind, thousands upon thousands of dead swell in my thoughts. Countless ships in the sea of stars are being destroyed and sent to the surface of a lush planet. Time dilates, quickening its pace, the planet’s once-lush bounty turns to ash and the skies fill with smoke, blanketing it. Explosions rupture its atmosphere until it becomes still once more. I see ice form as snow falls endlessly upon its surface. Three moons orbit it, dancing with crimson light… it is my world I realize now, before the fall. The being swathed in darkness grips my flesh tighter, coming closer to my face.
Memories pull to the surface of my mind like they are rifling through them, searching for something. It raises the hand that does not grip my face in front of it. Red energy pulses from its body, creating a flat circular disc. My eyes widen as I see the memories it pulls forming into shapes on its surface. It moves its hand, pain erupting in me as years are compressed into seconds, searching in my childhood. I fight against it, pressure rippling in the air. It pushes back with the flick of its wrist, and gravity slams my knees into the stone beneath me, cracking it. The being waves its palm upwards, sending me dangling in the sky, then flicks it down again, smashing me into the rocky surface.
It raises my head up by my chin now, peering deep into the recesses of my soul, shaking its head no. Fear wishes to drip from me like sweat, but I do not let it, I will not give the last of my pride to this darkness-clad creature of nightmares. It turns back to the disc of red energy, swirling its finger in it.
It replays the memory of me fighting the Carver with Arrum, tilting its head strangely as it watches the beast die from my blood. It flicks its hand again now showing me channeling Netheric Maka, its eyes turn to me. Peering deep into the abyss of my mind.
Its shadow-cloaked hand forms a fist and then extends its fingers. Everything inside of me feels like it is expanding all at once, pain like I have never experienced before. It waves its hand and I feel mine pulling upwards against my will. It releases my face and etches into my flesh some kind of pattern made of crimson light, almost like a rune. Black flames erupt from my body, engulfing the pattern until it is gone. The being’s eyes widen for a moment, then a cruel smile begins to form upon its face, and red light ebbs from it. It begins to laugh now, shaking the dream world so much that the stones on the island rise upwards. It stops suddenly, its smile turning to a frown as it looks upwards.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
Blinding light billows from the sky above us, pressing back the gloom. The being swathed in darkness hisses at it. The clouds part as a being swathed in light descends towards us. Its voice cuts at the darkness. Sending shockwaves into the dream world, shattering the bubble of air that the being swathed in darkness created. Sending the waters crashing against me, the pain abating with each wave. The light of the water changing from a deep crimson, mixing with blue.
The language it speaks to the being swathed in darkness I do not know, hearing it hurts my mind. As though its meaning is not meant for my ears. I recognize the voice though, it is the same one that speaks in my dreams. The dream world shakes violently as the being swathed in darkness speaks, rising into the air to meet the light, its words I cannot parse either, only pain fills my mind as I try.
The waves rise higher, flowing deep into the skies as the beings draw closer to each other. Energy arcs from each of them, thunder booms, and the realm trembles as light increases tenfold around them. The edges of the Realm of Dreams are cracking. Time begins to dilate as they are less than a pace from each other.
The air cracks, sound shatters, and my ears ring. The waters press backward wildly as they begin to fight. Cracks in the air become deeper. Black flames erupt from them. The beings pay it no mind as they slam into each other. Moving so fast I only feel the aftershocks. The being swathed in darkness is losing. This much is clear, its aura is flickering while the being swathed in light grows brighter.
The being swathed in darkness slams into the stone next to me. Shearing the island in half, sending it tumbling through the waters. The half that I am on rumbles as it falls into the depths, pressing me underneath it. Sending me deeper than I have ever gone. The hands of the dead try to grab me, but I sink so fast their grips cannot find purchase. As I fall I see Barnak again, still struggling against the legion. Why does he look different than the rest of the mindless ghosts that wish for nothing but to pull me down? He tries to swim to me, but they hold him firmly, tearing at the edges of his spirit.
The rumbling from deep above begins to grow quiet the deeper I go, so deep now that even the dead do not follow. Shadow fills my vision as I move endlessly deeper. The pressure increasing as I do.
I do not know how long I have been falling through the waters, but suddenly my back strikes against something. The stone island crushes me between it, but before it has turned me to pulp, something stirs as time slows to crawl.
Light that breaks the dark appears next to me. Standing on the film of that which holds me, silver fire that burns even against the waters, and the pressure of the depths envelops them. My eyes widen as I see it is the horned woman with the hair as white as fresh snow. The one from my dreams. She places her hand on the island of stone that pins me. It presses away as though it was a strand of hair against the breeze. Water presses from us, a sphere forming around us. Her flames light echoing off the edges of the murky waters.
My eyes trace beneath me, something is below this barrier of shadowy haze, something that calls deep to the very essence of my soul. My hand tries to press past, but the horned woman kneels next to me, grasping my hand and pulling my eyes up into hers. Her silver eyes glow brighter, within them, colors blend and swirl. I try to look back down at the barrier, something calls beneath, and I can feel it more clearly now. She pulls my face softly again, and with a small smile, she shakes her head no. There is no malice in it, more like she is protecting me from something. Her fingers pull together, snapping. The embrace of the dark follows.
***
Realm of Reality
***
There is a humming that rests on the air like the first rays of light come dawn. Pushing back the doom that swells, I have heard its tune before. In my dreams. It is the tune that the woman hummed as she walked in the field of purple flowers. Warmth stirs in me. So, there is peace in the afterlife… a welcome reprieve from the cold I have always known. Pain stirs with it, though I am used to such things. The dream of the beings is still fresh in my mind. What did it mean? Who is the horned woman? What did she want to keep me from finding in the depths? What lurks there?
Light sings from behind my eyes… am I… my eyes open slowly. Adjusting to the light of the sun’s rays which dances through a hole in the snow above the shuttle. I try to sit up, but there is something that holds me firmly. My breath is uneven as I push against it harder. My body is so weak, my head disoriented.
“Relax.” A soft voice says, it takes me a moment to place it.
The blue-haired woman. She lives? Then… I must live too. How?
“I managed to stop the bleeding, and I removed the Netherium.” She says, pressing firmly against my skin now I realize. Her cracked helmet looks toward me, a few strands of frosted blue hair dangle out, and I can’t make out her face behind the tint and dried Shulka blood.
Her accent I still can’t quite place. The ships that fell, perhaps it was the Empire and Republic ships. The one that the man on the comms spoke of. I wonder if she is from one of those places.
She has dressed me in warmer clothes, perhaps taken from what was left of the ship's compartments. A mask is over my face, caked in Shulka’s blood, so much so that I can scarcely see out of it. She is channeling Maka into my body. It explains the warmth. Her control is so refined, so much so that I could barely feel its breath in me. I try to stay awake, but the call of weariness is too much, the softness of the warmth of her Maka pulls me to rest.
***
There is an uneasiness in me as I finally stir again. My body aches, I feel feverish. As I sit up, I am met with pain. Looking around the cabin of the shuttle, I see no sign of the blue-haired woman. She has abandoned me it would seem. I can’t help but feel bitter about it, but why should she be different than most I have known? She paid her life debt by tending to me already. A life for a life is a fair trade. My uneasiness grows as I move to stand, groaning from the pain. The light of the suns has nearly fallen again.
I need to get to a city, there is no time to linger here. My eyes search for useful things, but there is little, it appears she took all the valuable things. Leaving me nothing. Her black box is also gone. Though the malice I felt from it, I am not sure I wish to see more of it. Whatever it is, it is cursed. My limbs burn as I pull myself through the snow, breaching the light. Around me, countless Shulka lie dead, hearts burned or smashed. This must be the work of the blue-haired woman. There is no other explanation. If I had left her, I would be in a Shulka’s belly by now, if I wasn’t a Shulka myself. The Sage’s guidance pays off, a rare occurrence of late.
Looking at the sky, I have only a few hours until the suns have set and the Shulkas come again. I do not know how far the city is, but I must try. The stubbornness to survive calls my weary body to march.